Maybe
by Rainbow Lagoon
Summary: "I DON'T like him okay? He's annoying, he's stubborn, he's impossible, and...and he's the son of Poseidon." The daughter of Aphrodite smiled. "Are you sure you don't like him, Annabeth?" I sighed. Obviously 'No' wasn't an answer. "Maybe...just maybe."
1. Chapter 1

Maybe…

"Psst. Annabeth!" I heard a voice whisper.

"Uuuuuuuuuuggggh..." I responded.

"Annabeth. Get up." The voice said. I knew the voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't tell who it was. It was really frustrating because I hated not knowing things, but I wasn't about to open my eyes and give the voice the satisfaction of waking me up.

This moment actually reminded me of what my grandmother, or my dad's mom, used to do over the phone. Weird, I know, but I couldn't help having a mini flashback. You see, when I was five I'd always call on her birthday, but she'd never recognize my voice.

It was pretty frustrating.

So I'd end up having to explain to her that, no, I was not a little Girl Scout trying to sell her cookies, and that I was her granddaughter calling because it was her birthday. Most of the time she'd end up saying 'It's my birthday?' and I'd just tell her it was nice talking to her and hang up.

I was still in the middle of a flashback when I felt the person give my shoulder a light shove.

To my horror I ended up rubbing my eyes and asking in a confused voice, "Grandma?"

I could hear the voice try not to laugh. "Um, yeah…of coarse I'm your Grandma…eat your veggies, Honey!"

Instantly I knew that voice belonged to a green-eyed, black haired friend of mine. I decided to try and trick him, which was a piece of cake considering his head was full of kelp.

"But veggies are icky" I muttered while rolling over.

"Annabeth you are a smart girl. You should know by now that vegetables are good for you." He said in a high-pitched voice.

"But Percy, they're icky."

"Just eat them An—WAIT A MINUTE!" He cried. "She called me Percy. Oh my gods, does she _DREAM_ about me or something?"

"No, it means her best friend is a horrible impersonator." I said with a laugh.

He pouted.

"What are you doing in my cabin, anyways?" I asked him.

He blushed. "Oh…I, um, well…funny story actually I—"

Before he could finish, my brother Malcolm burst in. "Annabeth!"

DANG IT! I wanted to hear what Percy's pathetic excuse was. Now I'll never know! GRRRRRR! Did I mention that I HATE not knowing things?

"Yes Malcolm?" I asked trying not to sound annoyed.

"Chiron wants to see you..." He hesitated noticing Percy for the first time. "Uh...now."

I nodded. "Tell him I'll be there in a second."

"Okay." Malcolm turned and glared at Percy before he left the room.

"Uh, I guess I'll see you later..." Percy said before he took off.

I got dressed and headed towards the Big House. It's blue paint matched the color of the sky as I approached it.

Chiron was standing on the porch in his centaur form. He had a bow and quiver slung over his shoulder. "Annabeth!" He greeted. "How has your morning been?"

I sighed. "It was fine, I guess."

He smiled. "Well, that's good because..." Suddenly a woman in a red sparkly dress opened the door. My eyes widened. Aphrodite.

"Hello Annabeth!" She greeted.

I glanced at Chiron as if to ask him '_What is SHE doing here?'_

He answered my question out loud. "Aphrodite is here because she wants to speak to you...er...privately."

I glanced at her. She smiled devilishly. I had a feeling this wasn't gonna be fun.

**o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o**

She led me inside.

"Annabeth. You probably are wondering why I've come here." She said as she handed me a cup of hot chocolate, even though it was the middle of June.

I gladly took it and nodded.

"One of the reasons is to check up on my kids."

I blew on the chocolate, then cautiously took a sip.

"The other one is to talk about you and Percy as a couple!"

I was so shocked I spit most of my hot chocolate onto the floor. I could feel my cheeks going red, part from spitting my beverage all over the floor, and the other part talking about Percy and I as a couple. I carefully set the cup down. When I looked up she had a huge, sly smile plastered on her face. That made me go even redder.

I cleared my throat trying to hide my embarrassment. "Um...excuse me?"

"You heard me." She said pointing an accusing finger at me. "You guys always flirt with each other, but neither of you _EVER_ make a move! It's getting pretty annoying."

I was frozen. "Ummm...?"

"Oh, don't worry about rejection. It's obvious he likes you." She said with a smile.

Hang on a second. Percy couldn't...LIKE-LIKE me, could he? I mean, he likes Rachel, and I am perfectly okay with that. It's his decision. If he wants to date that rich, red-head, who always takes him for granted and never appreciates what he does (or even listens to him for that matter), then that's perfectly fine with _ME_. I'm not jealous or anything. I'm just upset about how she treats him THAT'S ALL. Ugh, you're smirking aren't you? Well you can think what you want, but I'll have you know I am _NOT_ jealous, no matter _WHAT_ you think! So ha! In your face! OH MY GODS, I'VE GONE CRAZY! Hallucinations are the first sign of madness! OH NO! They're gonna stick me in a mental hospital, or a rubber room, or even a-

"ANNABETH CHASE!" Aphrodite exploded. I jumped. I had almost forgotten she was there. Oh no! Is that another sign?

"Y-yes Aphrodite?" I stuttered.

"Were you listening to me? I told you to make sure you don't wear pink with red. Got it?" She said tapping her foot.

"Uh...yes?" I lied.

"Good. Oh you two are so cute together!" She squealed like a second grader.

I cleared my throat. "Um, Aphrodite, can I leave now?"

She giggled. "Alright. But remember what I told you."

I nodded as I left the Big House. Truth be told, I had NO idea what she was talking about, but it was probably dumb...right?

Anyways, I headed down to the dining hall. I saw Percy sitting alone at the Poseidon table. He looked so lonely I almost felt bad for him.

I sat at the Athena table and inhaled my food. Shooting a glance over to the Poseidon table, I picked the onions out of my salad. Percy gave me a little wave. I waved back and blushed. Knowing Percy he was gonna tease me about that later. When I turned back to my food, I noticed all of my siblings were staring at me.

"EAT YOUR SALAD!" I screamed at them. They quickly turned back to their meals muttering stuff about mood swings and other junk. I know yelling at them was pretty mean, but I couldn't just smile casually and say: 'Oh yeah, that was just Percy waving at me, so I waved back because I'm his friend even though our parents hate each other and stuff.'

My mind drifted to what Aphrodite said earlier. He couldn't really like me...right?

He has Rachel...right? GAAAARRH! All this not knowing is confusing!

When no one was looking, I glanced back at Percy. I'm his best friend. I'm not supposed to be crushing on him. That would just creep him out and then he'd avoid me for the rest of his life. I don't even like him that way. I mean, sure he's kinda cute, but if he asked me out I would probably say no. But maybe...just maybe I'd say yes.

Maybe...

**o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O **

**Well, there's the first chapter! This is my first fanfic. You can probably tell. Haha. Anyways, please review! PEACE OUT SUCKERS! ^U^  
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**Rain~*  
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	2. Chapter 2

Maybe...

I left the mess hall, and headed toward my first training class. Then _it _happened. And by _it_ I mean the most horrible/dramatic thing that made things get so…weird.

It happened at archery.

I saw that redheaded demon— I mean Rachel, blabbing her mouth off while Percy was mindlessly staring at a yellow butterfly.

Seaweed Brain…he's probably gonna pay for that by getting _another _long lecture from the blabber-mouth. Will he ever learn?

Wait…why am I asking you that? Wait…who ARE 'you?' Are 'you' like my conscience or something? You know what? I'm just gonna stop talking…or thinking…or—WHATEVER! I don't even know why I'm yelling. OH MY GODS, I _AM_ MENTAL! Do you think I need to call a doctor or a therapist or-

"Annabeth! Shoot the arrow!" Someone screamed. Whaaaaaat? My brain froze. Instinctively I shot it.

The good news was no one got killed; the bad news it missed Rachel's head by and inch, and hit the tree that she and Percy were standing in front of (which the nymph who lived there was not happy about.) Rachel stared at me, at first with horror, then with anger.

I, then, realized why. If a camper were to have walked by at that moment it would've looked like I was trying to hit _Rachel_ instead of the target. Her face was bright red. Percy looked at me with pure shock.

She marched over to me. "What is wrong with you? Do you know how painful that would've been? Were you trying to KILL ME?"

I wanted to answer: 'If it would've gotten you to shut up' But I kept my mouth shut. I didn't need her any madder than she was.

She put her hands on her hips. "Are you jealous of me and Percy's relationship or something?"

I stared at her like she had just swallowed three turtles. "Uh, no."

"Then why'd you shoot me?" She asked again. Man, she is persistent.

"It was an accident, okay?" I said.

She glared at me. "Yeah, right. Who shoots an arrow at someone _accidentally_?" I was about to slam my fist into her annoying little face, when Percy made his way towards us.

"Annabeth, why'd you do it?" He looked worried.

"It was an accident. I swear!" I tried to do my big pleading gray eye thing with him. It almost worked, too, but then that loud-mouthed Rachel intervened.

"Percy! DON'T FALL FOR IT! CAN'T YOU SEE SHE'S HYPNOTISING YOU?"

I stared at her. Was she serious?

I put my hands on my hips. "I'm not HYPNOTISING him, okay?" I paused. "I was just…uh…"

I stood there like an idiot trying to figure out what to say.

"I was just checking his…uh…" I stuttered hopelessly. Then, like a very hard brick, it hit me. "HIS SHIRT!"

Percy raised an eyebrow.

"I was checking his shirt for…MUSTARD STAINS! And I found one!" I exclaimed. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Percy trying not to laugh. I pointed to a yellow spot on his shirt. "See it? Right there?"

Rachel looked skeptical.

Percy glanced at it. "Annabeth." He said slowly. "That's supposed to be there."

I stared at his black shirt. He was right. The yellow dot was part of a paint design on the left side of it.

"Oh…right. I knew that." I chuckled nervously. Rachel glared at me. This was not looking good for me.

"Look the point is, I didn't aim for Rachel on purpose." I said flatly.

Rachel scoffed. "You're lucky it didn't hit me! Chiron would've been _ticked_." Then she did something that surprised me.

She put her scrawny little hands on her hips, and added, "But now that I think about it, I really don't see why I was so mad; I mean, you probably would've missed anyways."

'_Chill your grill, Annabeth, chill your grill.'_

"Plus Percy would _never_ choose you. You're not his type." She said examining me up and down. Glanced at Percy. He was busy staring at that dang butterfly. WHY CAN'T HE PAY ATTENTION FOR ONCE! I could feel my face heating up with anger. I tried to clam myself with soothing thoughts.

'She's a mortal, Annabeth. She doesn't know what she's talking about.'

"I can't believe you know which end of the arrow to shoot. I mean, no offence or anything, but blonds are supposed to be dumb, am I right?" She asked looking at the audience that had formed around us. I clenched my fists and glared at her.

'OH. NO. SHE. DIDN'T!'

Without thinking I lunged at her. She screamed and backed up. As quick as a wink I grabbed my knife and pointed it under her chin. She went cross-eyed to look at it.

"You _DID NOT _just do that." She seethed. I sneered at her. "I believe I just did."

She glanced down at the knife then back up at me.

"CATFIGHT!" I heard a voice shout from the crowd. It had to belong to either Travis or Conner.

Rachel raised her fist and was probably gonna do something stupid like punch me in the nose, but before she had the chance Percy quickly intervened. "Guys stop it!"

"She started it." Rachel mumbled as she brought her fist back down.

"At least I don't look like Medusa on a bad hair day." I grumbled back.

"Annabeth!" Percy scolded.

"Hey, the truth hurts!" I said as I raised my hands up in mock-surrender.

Rachel nearly exploded. Percy put a hand on her shoulder. I swear, I could feel my temperature rising.

"You don't have to be so mean, you know." Percy said with his arms crossed.

"_SHE_ was being mean to _ME_. She blabbers on and on about these stupid things that nobody wants to hear about, and annoys the living daylights out of _everyone_ she walks by!" I said throwing my arms in the air dramatically. "Even _you_ don't pay attention, Percy!"

He glared at me defensively. "So?"

"So she doesn't make that great of a girlfriend, does she?" I said sharply. I know, I know, that one was not a smart move, BUT IT WASN'T ME! Something just snapped, and I was all grumpy and stuff.

"That doesn't make her a bad girlfriend." He said.

"She barely notices anything you do! You do all these nice things for her and all she does is go 'Oh, thanks Percy. Now where was I?' You deserve better! I'm pretty sure you don't even understand a word she says!" I screamed.

He blinked. "Have you been spying on me?"

My eyes widened. "Uuuuuh…no?"

"Why are you so mad about me going out with Rachel anyways? Huh? Why does it bother you so much, Annabeth?" He sounded so worried I almost felt sorry for him. I couldn't tell him that I was annoyed, then he would just keep asking. I also couldn't tell him that I secretly liked him, which looking back on it would have solved a lot of problems. Finally, I came up with a solution.

Me, being the mature and sophisticated human being that I am, took off towards the beach and never looked back.

**O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O**

I collapsed down on the sand and buried my head in my hands. His words echoed around in my head '_Why are you so mad about me hanging out with Rachel?'_

I picked up a handful of sand and squeezed it to death.

Why AM I so mad? I'm not jealous…right? I _can't_ be jealous. Of _Rachel_. Excuse me, but ew.

Suddenly a voice in my head asked me the weirdest question.

"Do you like him, Annabeth? Do you?"

I DON'T KNOW!

ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

I threw the handful of sand into the ocean. I don't like him. He's a friend. Just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. I settled on that answer. After sitting there for a while, I couldn't help but start to think:

Maybe I do like him. A little. I mean, it's not serious or anything. It's just small. I'll get over it…right?

Maybe I will.

Maybe.

**O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O**

**Thanks** **to all of you that reviewed! I feel so warm and fuzzy now! ^U^ Please review some more. PEACE!**

**Rain~***


	3. Chapter 3

**BTW: This takes place after TBOL. Rachel isn't the oracle and is just staying at camp for certain purposes. Silena, Zoë, Bianca, and Beckandorf are still alive. Read on…**

Maybe…

Great. Just great. I got a month of kitchen duty for _'threatening a mortal for no reason at all' _and now I'm cleaning all of the greasy plates that the campers eat their lunch on. Even worse? Percy is now avoiding me, and is hanging out with Rachel _a lot_ more. WHY, FATES, WHY?

This stinks.

Well, might as well sing.

'Somewhere, over the rainbow, 

Skies a blue…'

Nah. Too…rainbowish.

'If I were a booooooooooooooy,

I think I could understaaaaand,

How it feels to love a girl, 

I swear I'd be a better maaaaaan!'

Nah…too weird. Suddenly it hit me:

'I will survive!

Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive.

I've got all my life to live,

I've got all my love to give, I'll survive!

I will survive!'

"HEY! SHUT UP!" One of the harpies screamed at me. Ugh, jerk. It's bad enough I have to work with these…monsters, but now I can't sing or try to enjoy it? Oh Hades take me now.

I scrubbed until my arms were like rubber. I somehow managed to make my legs work, and trudged into my cabin. I peeled off my shirt and threw on my pajamas. The last thing I remember was flopping into my warm, and comfy bed.

The next morning when I went down to breakfast, Mr. D made an announcement.

"Good morning, you brats. I have two very special announcements to make." He said holding up his glass of coke.

'_Grrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaaaaat…'_

"We have a new camp activity that we believe will help you when you are fighting monsters. The mortals play this game, so it should be quite easy."

A new game? I stole a quick glance at Percy. He was nodding approvingly not even noticing me staring at him. I slumped down and put my head next to my oatmeal. It suddenly didn't look very appetizing.

"Since there is a new game," He continued. "The Hunters have agreed to come and stay for a while."

My head shot up like a rocket. The Hunters? Does that mean…?

Before I could even finish the thought Thalia came running towards the pavilion with the Hunters, and Artemis following her grumbling about the last time they stayed here.

Conner raised his hand. "What's this new game you were talking about?"

Mr. D grinned. "Oh it is _very_ amusing. It's called dodge ball. I'm sure you've heard of it."

We all looked at each other.

DODGE BALL?

**O o O o O o O o O o O o O**

Mr. D led us to the woods. How were we supposed to play dodge ball in the woods? I've never played it before, but I do know that you try and get everybody from the other team out by throwing balls at them.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned to find Thalia standing there with a grin on her face. "This is gonna be fun."

'_Uh oh.'_ Thalia only uses that face if she's got something planned. I now suggest that we head for the hills, because this game is gonna get messy.

We hiked a little more until Mr. D stopped us and turned around.

"Now listen up! This dodge ball game has a bit of a twist. We are playing capture the flag dodge ball!"

We glanced at each other. Thalia mouthed. 'What?'

I shrugged.

Mr. D sighed. "The goal of the game is to try and capture the other opponent's flag without getting hit by a ball OR attacked by monsters. The balls have been hidden in a basket of your team's color somewhere in these woods. You must find them before the other team does and follow this map to a…special place. The Blue team's is hidden in the South woods, and the Red team's basket is hidden in the North woods. Understand?"

We nodded understandingly.

"Alright. Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hades, and Poseidon are on Red; Aphrodite, the Hunters, Ares, Demeter, and Apollo on Blue! GOT IT?"

Rachel raised her hand. "What about me?"

He sighed. "You will be on the Blue team. HAPPY?"

'YES, MR.D, YES I AM!'

We nodded again. He gave us the maps to the 'special place'.

He continued. "Good. Now, here are the rules:

-No maiming. _(Understandable.)_

-No killing. _(Ummmmm…?)_

-No making out. _(What the…?)_

-No cheating. _(Reasonable.)_

-If you catch a ball that is thrown at you the thrower is out. _(Greeeeaaaaat.)_

-No using the creek. _(I heard Percy groan.)_

-If you get hit while running with the flag, you have fifteen seconds to put it back. _(Yay.)_

-And most importantly…HAVE FUN! _(Aww, Mr. D DOES care.)_

-Oh, and watch out for the traps we've set up everywhere. NOW GO! " _(THE WHAT?)_

The Blue team raced to the South Woods, while we raced North. We found the basket with no problem at all (They hid it behind a giant rock…) so we figured we were ahead. The map led us to this big swirly, and conveniently yellow, path.

So I did the natural thing and started humming _'Follow the Yellow Brick Road.'_

I was so lost in my humming that I didn't notice Percy fall in step with me.

"Hey." He muttered.

I glanced at him. "Uhh…hey."

We walked a little more in silence.

"Nice weather we're having." He muttered.

"Nice conversation starter." I teased back. For a second he looked nervous as if I were mad at him or something, but when he saw my smile he grinned as well. For some reason it made me feel all tingly. Stupid hormones.

"Well, it worked didn't it?"

I giggled. Whoa! Hold up! Time out! Annabeth Chase does NOT and I repeat NOT giggle. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME? This son of Poseidon is turning me into a softie!

He stopped walking. "Annabeth?"

I turned. "Yeah?"

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened with Rachel." He just HAD to bring that up. "Rachel told me to ignore you, or she'd break up with me."

That one got me angry. Please excuse me while I say mean things about Rachel in my head.

_'WHY DIDN'T HE JUST DUMP HER? A GOOD GIRLFRIEND DOESN'T MAKE HER BOYFRIEND AVOID HIS BEST FRIEND LIKE THAT UNLESS SHE HAS MENTAL ISSUES, WHICH RACHEL PROBABLY DOES! I MEAN, WHO DOES THAT? SERIOUSLY, THAT IS JUST MEAN! HOW CAN PERCY LIKE THAT…THAT…THAT TODUM POLE? ARRRRRRRGGGHHH! I HOPE SHE DIES LONELY!'_

Okay now that I've calmed myself… "So you're saying that you'd rather ignore me than break up with Rachel?" Okay maybe I didn't exactly CALM myself…

He frowned. "No. I just don't want her to break up with me." Seaweed Brain…

"And you'd be okay ignoring _me_?" I snapped.

He crossed his arms. "At least I came and talked to you. I could've ignored you, but I didn't."

"You shouldn't _have_ to ignore me! Rachel is just jealous."

"Rachel? Jealous? Of you? Trust me Rachel isn't like that."

"You wish!"

"Do you have something against her?"

"No, I just don't think she's right for you!"

"So you know who and who isn't right for me?"

"Anybody is better than that spoiled brat!"

That is when we started yelling. I was sure someone would come and tell us to shut up, but no one came. We did, however, manage to scare the crows away.

"SHE IS NOT SPOILED!"

"SHE HAS HER OWN HELICOPTER!"

"IT'S NOT LIKE SHE DRIVES IT AROUND OR SHOWS IT OFF! ANNABETH, SHE _HATES _BEING RICH! MAYBE IF YOU GOT TO KNOW HER BETTER-"

I cut him off right there. "THAT'S JUST IT PERCY! I _DON'T_ WANT TO GET TO KNOW HER BETTER! SHE IS MEAN TO ME, AND THAT IS ALL THE EVIDENCE I NEED!"

We were toe-to-toe and face-to-face. We just stared at each other breathing hard. Finally, a voice broke the silence.

"I TOLD YOU KIDS NO MAKING OUT!" It was obviously Mr.D.

_THWHACK!_

I turned. In the tree me and Percy were standing behind was a spear. Mr. D was throwing weapons at us.

Percy grabbed my wrist and ran me out of there. We sprinted like there was no tomorrow. Finally, we figured we lost him, and collapsed on the ground breathing hard.

"We should try and find the rest of the team." I stated.

He hesitated then nodded.

We walked for what seemed hours. Since we didn't have the map, it was twice as hard finding our way.

I tried to figure out where we were by looking at our surroundings, but ended up tripping over a rock and falling smack into Percy. Of coarse Percy never saw it coming and ended up falling as well.

So there we were in the middle of the forest tangled up in leaves and twigs, with me on top of Percy, and our faces inches apart. Just wait, it gets better.

All of a sudden, I heard a snap, and WHOOSH!

Percy and I were now caught in a net hanging from a sturdy tree.

For those of you who have never been caught in a net, let me be the first to tell you it is NOT fun. Especially with another person. First of all, there is no place to actually stand, and if you try you end up flopping all over the other person. I actually felt bad for Percy because I was sprawled out on top of him.

Suddenly, I panicked.

What if someone were to walk by and see me and Percy hanging in a tree? They would laugh and take pictures and send them to all of their friends, and—OH MY GOSH I GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE! During my panic attack, I didn't realize you can't stand in a net so I kept trying and trying until Percy finally shouted, "Annabeth it's not possible!"

I flopped down, accidentally landing on his chest, and laid there a couple seconds. I could feel the blush rising to my cheeks.

Surprisingly, I felt…safe. Like nothing could ever go wrong. I glanced up at Percy. He was staring out at the dusty trail, longing to be back on the ground.

I noticed every detail on his face. The way his jet-black hair was so messy that you wanted to run your hands through it and fix it. The way his green eyes, like shiny emerald orbs, always seemed so calming. I even noticed his lips seemed soft…kind of like a cookie. His cheeks were a rosy red, probably from me being on top of him, that made him look cute. Even—

"Well, this is awkward." Percy managed. Well…that certainly killed the moment. Wait…did I just think that he was…CUTE? OH MY GODS ANNABETH! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!

MATH EQUATIONS!

_4x- 2y = 18_

_x = 6  
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_y= 3  
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Okay…I'm better now.

"No kidding." I muttered.

"Who do you think did this?" He asked.

I shook my head. I honestly had no clue. I could hear Percy's heart beat which soothed me a little. Then it hit me.

"Mr. D! He told us to watch out for traps. I guess this must be one of them."

Percy groaned. Then brightened. I swear it was like a change in personality. "Annabeth, do you have your knife?"

I understood instantly. The problem was, I couldn't reach my knife. It was in my right pocket, which was out of my reach since I was laying on my right arm. The only other person who could've possibly gotten it was Percy but there is no way I was gonna ask him to get something out of my pocket. No way in Hades.

"Percy I need you to…um…" I stuttered hopelessly.

"Need me to what?" Oh, I just about died right there.

"I need you to reach into my pocket and get my knife." I muttered. He blushed crimson.

"Oh…uh…okay." Hesitantly he reached into my pocket and grabbed my knife. It was weird, but not as weird as I had thought.

Once he handed me his knife I cut like there was no tomorrow. Minutes later, Percy and I fell flat on the ground with a loud _oomph!_

"Come on, Percy!" I said as I dragged him to his feet.

**O o O o O o O o O o O o O**

We followed the yellow trail for a good thirty minutes. Percy and I were strolling side-by-side trying not to look at each other. Things between me and Percy were awkward. Really, really awkward.

Aphrodite must find it very amusing to make things even _more_ awkward for me, because every once in a while our hands would get tangled up together. The first time was embarrassing, but SIX TIMES IN A ROW? It started to get a little old.

Percy being the kelp-for-brain person he is decided to try and start a conversation.

"The clouds look puffy."

I stared at him. "Puffy?"

"Yeah. They kind of poof out, you know?"

"Poof?"

"Poof."

"…I guess they ARE kind of poofy…"

"You guess?"

"Well, they look more fluffy than poofy."

"They're poofy."

"Fluffy."

"Poofy."

"Fluffy!"

"Poofy!"

"FLUFFY!"

"POOFY!"

"FLUFFY!"

"POOFY!"

Suddenly, a tree nymph came bursting out of her tree. "ALRIGHT WE GET IT! CLOUDS ARE POOFY AND FLUFFY! NOW SHUT UP BEFORE I SMACK YOU IN THE HEAD WITH ONE OF MY BRANCHES! AND, YEAH, TREE NYMPHS CAN DO THAT IF THEY WANT TO!" And with that she melted back into her tree.

Our hands tangled again.

"Sorry." We said in unison.

After a few more minutes of walking in utter silence, I sighed and plopped down on a tree stump. Percy on the other hand stopped walking, stood there for a second, and then fell face-first into the grass.

"Peeeeerrrrccccyy." I groaned. "What are you doing?"

"Planking." Was his muffled answer.

"…Why?" I asked him.

"Because it is AWESOME!"

Well, might as well trick him, again…I'm so nice aren't I?

"Percy…you do realize there are ants where your mouth is."

He shot up like a rocket, and started running around like an idiot. "ANTS! GET 'EM OFF! GET 'EM OFF! AAAAAAH!"

I nearly fell over laughing. It took him a minute to realize I was joking, but when he did…

"ANNABETH!"

"Yes, my dear, sweet Percy?"

He sprinted towards me. Okay, having a teenage boy, who is twice as big as you, owns a sword, and looks like he is about to murder some one, is a whole lot scarier than you think. So what did Annabeth-the-great do in this situation, you ask?

SHE RAN LIKE THERE WAS NO TOMORROW! THAT'S WHAT!

The wind whipped my hair. I was NOT going to let Percy catch up to me.

He was so far behind, that I whirled around, jogging backwards, and screamed: "AWWW, IS WITTLE PERCY JACKSON TOO SLOW TO CATCH UP TO A GIRL! THAT'S JUST A GOSH DARN SHAME!"

Wrong thing to say. He sped up, and was ten feet away.

I decided to motivate myself. _'I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.'_

Percy was gaining on me. So, my motivational self got a little frantic…

_'I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN, I-'_

Percy grabbed my wrist. DANG IT! He hauled me to a stop. Well, tried to, anyways. I was not expecting the extra weight, so I stopped. Percy crashed into me and sent us spiraling to the ground.

"Ouch." Was all I could manage. Percy hopped up, and held out his hand. I gladly took it and stood up. Not even a second later, Percy poked me in the rib. Naturally, I jerked away from him.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For LIEING to me!" He said mock-hurt.

I rolled my eyes and turned around. Standing in front of me was a huge, golden, pyramid looking thing. I could hear an audience cheering so loudly I had to take a couple steps back.

"Uh…Percy?"

He was staring at the thing with his mouth hanging open. "Yeah?"

"I think this is the 'special place Mr. D was talking about."

"Do you really think this is it?" He asked me.

I took a deep breath. "Only one way to find out."

We stepped inside.

_Maybe…maybe this was a bad idea…_

**O o O o O o O o O o O o O o O**

**YAY! ANOTHER CHAPPY! Thanks for all of the reviews guys! LUV YOU!**

**Rain ~***


	4. Chapter 4

Maybe…

As soon as I walked in, I wanted to spin around and run away. The place was as big as two football stadiums, and was packed with gods, and monsters. In the middle was a rectangular room that had a glass wall surrounding all four sides of it.

I looked towards the ceiling, and my heat nearly stopped. Athena, Poseidon, and all the other 12 Olympians were seated looking at the glass box amusingly.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE! THE LAST TWO DEMIGODS HAVE ARRIVED!" The announcer bellowed. The crowd went crazy.

Chiron trotted up to us. "Percy! Annabeth! Finally, now we can have a total of twelve demigods."

TWELEVE? THERE WERE LIKE FORTY-SIX, INCLUDING RACHEL, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED! WHAT IS GOING ON!

"Chiron-" I started, but he cut me off with a wave of his hand.

Dionysus' voice came over the loud speaker. "All right! Since Percy and Annabeth are the last two to make it I will explain the rules. The twelve remaining demigods have managed to make it here without getting tangled in one of my traps."

I instantly felt guilty, but then thought better of it. It wasn't mentioned in the rules that you can't cut yourself out of one of the traps.

"The twelve remaining please make your way inside the box. Thank you."

I looked at Percy, and he shrugged. As we made our way towards the glass box, in the front row I saw demigods either tied up in nets or covered in bruises and cuts. Conner waved at me from the bench. He looked as if he had lost a fight with a mud monster.

When Percy and I entered I scanned the remaining other remaining campers. Thalia was there looking totally unharmed. Silena was staring at Beckendorf, who was standing next to her looking pleased with himself. Travis was annoying Katie by poking her. Clarisse was scowling at Percy. Nico stood there looking totally Goth. Zoë Nightshade was polishing her bow and arrow. Chris had made it too. He was claimed a couple of months ago by Dionysus. Suddenly Mr. D spoke.

"Choose a partner."

Silena immediately chose Beckendorf. Everyone else was sort of hesitant.

Travis looked at Katie. "Partner?"

She rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and then nodded.

Percy turned towards me and said in a horrible British accent, "Would you care to be my partner on this fine evening?"

I chuckled. "As long as you don't use your accent the entire game."

Clarisse glanced at Chris. "You're my partner."

Chris stared at her a minute then said, "Um…okay."

That only left Rachel, Nico, Thalia, and Zoë.

Finally, Rachel spoke. "I'll go with Nico." I instantly felt bad for him.

Nico blushed a little. "Um…Why—why do you want me?"

"Because those two are Hunters." She said simply. "Plus Percy is taken."

Nico nodded approvingly.

So that left Thalia with Zoë.

"Now, stand across from that person." Mr. D said. What the heck? I thought we were playing dodge ball.

Everyone stood across from each other.

"The people on the left are playing for the Red team. The people on the right are playing for the Blue team."

Whoa. WHAT?

I was playing for Red. I glanced down my row to see who else was on my team. I had Beckendorf, Katie, Chris, Nico _(I hope he's good.)_, and Thalia _(YES!)_. Percy was on Blue and had Silena, Travis, Clarisse _(Darn…)_, Rachel _(Nooooooo!)_, and Zoë

"You each represent a god! Annabeth-Athena, Percy-Poseidon, Clarisse-Ares, Chris-Dionysus, Thalia-Zeus, Nico-Hades, Travis-Hermes, Katie-Demeter, Hephaestus-Beckendorf, Silena-Aphrodite, and Zoë is Artemis."

Rachel raised her hand. "WHAT ABOUT ME?"

Mr. D pondered over this. "You will represent Apollo. GOT IT?"

She nodded.

He blew a whistle. "NOW THROW THE BALLS AT EACH OTHER! IF THE BALL HITS YOU YOU'RE OUT! NO EXCUSES! IF YOU CATCH IT THE PERSON WHO THREW IT IS OUT!"

Thalia picked up three red, rubber balls and flung them at Travis. Surprisingly, the kid has fast reflexes. He dodged it and chucked one at her head. She dodged it easily, but was outraged.

"STOLL! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" And threw everything she had at him. Percy got in on the action too. He threw one at Thalia, Nico, and then me. It nearly hit my shoulder.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!" I screamed at him. He gave me a lop-sided grin. "Yes?"

I chucked one and he just barely dodged it. He glared at me playfully. "Now, that wasn't very nice, was it?"

I grinned.

Clarisse hit Silena right on the left foot. "Sorry, girl. I gotta do, what I gotta do."

Silena shrugged, and left the box to go sit with everyone else. Chris wasn't having that much luck either. Zoë was going full Huntress mode on him. Luckily, Katie threw one at her just as Chris did and Zoë couldn't dodge them quick enough. She was out. She threw the red ball she had in her hand on the ground and marched out of the box.

Artemis glowed a little before she calmed herself and left.

Clarisse threw one at Nico. All he was doing was standing there. He stepped to the side and watched the ball hit the wall then come back and roll right next to his foot.

He picked it up obviously amused, then threw it at Clarisse. It hit her straight in the chest.

"I'LL GET YOU DI ANGELO!" She screeched as she marched out. Ares was so outraged he threw his bucket of popcorn down and started cursing in Greek.

The only ones left on Percy's team were Travis, Percy (of coarse) and *Shudder* Rachel.

Travis hit Katie in the shoulder. She slowly made her way to the exit. I guess Travis wanted to have some fun because he threw two more at her.

"OKAY! I GET IT! I'M OUT! SHEESH TRAVIS!" With that she marched out. Demeter glared at Hermes, while he shrugged.

"COME ON, CHARLIE!" Silena screamed from the sidelines. Beckendorf looked at her and grinned. Percy hit him straight in the shoulder.

"Nice shot." He said to Percy as he walked out. In the stands I could see him making out with Silena. Wow…

Hephaestus was glancing at Aphrodite, while she was crying with joy.

Chris got hit in the chest by Travis and was out. Dionysus was asleep like the old bag he is. I started to panic. We only had THREE PEOPLE LEFT! Of coarse so did Percy…but you know.

_'BEEP, BEEP, BEEP'_

An alarm went off. All of a sudden, the entire box started shaking. Rachel grabbed onto Percy.

"What's happening!" Thalia screamed.

I realized the box was growing higher and higher. The crowd roared. We shot upwards until we were at least 600 feet off of the ground. Percy looked uncomfortable. Thalia looked like she wanted to die.

If one of us were to get out we would have to either jump, or run down the 6 million steps. Personally, I'd rather jump…

"Sorry, we wanted to get a better view. Keep going." Dionysus said.

"Gods, I hate heights." Thalia whimpered as she threw a ball at Travis. Percy looked down at the crowd for a split second. One second was all I needed in order to get him out. I chucked one aimed right at his face.

_WHAM!_

It hit the wall behind him.

_'I MISSED? DARN IT!'_

Percy snapped back to reality and grabbed the nearest ball. Travis hit Nico smack in the face. I was pretty sure he was aiming for Thalia, but Nico must've gotten in the way somehow…

He walked away muttering, "Owies…"

Hades melted away into the shadows. Apparently he was only here for Nico.

Thalia glared at him. All of Travis's attention was focused on Thalia. I took this as my opportunity. I threw a ball at Travis, and prayed for the best. It hit him right in the shoulder. He was stunned as he dropped the ball he was holding and walked away.

Hermes began to laugh.

'Now why couldn't that have been Percy…?'

Thalia came up to me. "Nice."

Rachel threw one at Thalia. She ducked and it flew past her.

"Is that all you got?" She screamed.

Percy threw one near her left foot. She did this weird flying kick thing and landed flat on her back.

"JACKSON!"

Rachel threw one at my head. I dodged it gingerly.

I figured she would stop, but the balls kept coming and coming.

'_Must motivate myself.' _I thought.

Percy was throwing balls at Thalia like there was no tomorrow. Thalia was having trouble avoiding them. The red balls of doom would barely make it past her. Finally, Percy threw one aimed at her leg, then one aimed for her face. She stood up and marched out without a word.

Zeus glared at Poseidon, while the sea god smiled with pride.

I was now the only person on the Red team. I WAS DOOMED!

Rachel and Percy both smiled at me all creepy-like.

"Hi Annabeth." Percy said slyly.

"How ya doin'?" Asked Rachel smoothly.

I gulped. This was not looking good for me. So, I made a wild throw at Rachel's face.

She tried to duck but was too slow. It rammed into her. She doubled over clutching her face. When she looked up my eyes widened. Her face was almost as red as the ball. Man, I must hit harder than I think.

"Looks like I'm out." She grumbled as she made her way to the exit. Now it was only me and Percy.

"AN-NA-BETH! AN-NA-BETH!" I could hear my team chanting.

"PER-CY! PER-CY! PER-CY!" The Blue team cried.

"HIT HIM, ANNABETH!" My mother screamed. "SHOW HIM THE POWER OF ATHENA!"

He raised his eyebrows.

"Shut up." I told him.

"I didn't say anything." He said.

I chucked a ball at him. He didn't even flinch. He watched it sail past him.

"What a shot, Annie! What a shot!" He said raising his arms.

I rolled my eyes.

"APOLLO WANTS YOU TO SING EVERYTIME YOU THROW THE BALL!" Mr. D called.

'SING? I don't wanna sing! Why do we have to sing?'

"Why do we have to sing?" Percy asked as if reading my thoughts.

Apollo took the mic. "BECAUSE I SAID SO! YOU GOT RACHEL OUT! AND I COULD EASILY BLAST YOU TO BITS, SO DO IT!"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

I chucked a ball at Percy.

'Hit me with your best shot,

Why don't 'cha hit me with your best shot,

Hit me with your best shot,

Fire away!'

"You asked for it." He said as he threw a ball at me. Then he started to sing:

'When walk in the spot this is what I see,

Everybody stops and is staring at me,

I got passion in my…uh'

He stopped for a minute then grinned.

'I got passion in my dance

And I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it'

He started doing this weird jig that leprechaun do.

'I'm sexy and I know it.' 

I mentally face palmed. OF COARSE, that's what Percy would sing…the seaweed brain…

He threw another one at me, then yelled as loud as he could:

"I SHALL NOW LET OUT MY INNER JUSTIN BIEBER!"

He got some weird looks, but ignored them by rubbing his hands together then started yelling:

'Baby, baby, baby oooooh,

Like baby, baby, baby noooooo,

Like baby, baby, baby oooooooh,

I thought you'd always be mine, mine.'

I chucked one at his face and missed by a centimeter. This was getting very frustrating, especially since Percy keeps giving me these funny looks. Time to sing. OWL CITY! In honor of Athena.

'I wish that we could sail our sad days away forever

In deep blue seas of paper mâché 

A barracuda chased our dog days away forever

Let's sink or swim 'til we fall in love 

When we join the yacht club'

He threw one so fast that I didn't see it coming and had to hit the deck so I wouldn't get hit. I glared at him and threw three at him as hard as I could.

He started singing his song while he was dodging the balls. It went a little something like this:

'I got the moves like Jagger'

*Dodge*

'I got the moves like Jagger'

*Dodge*

'I got the mooooooooooooves, like Jagger'

*Dodge*

HE DODGED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WHILE SINGING 'MOVES LIKE JAGGER' BY MAROON 5!

Wow…kid's got talent.

I sang the first thing that came to mind:

'If you could see that I'm the one who understands you

Been here all along so why can't you see?

You belong with me

You belong with me'

…OH MY GODS, WHY DID I JUST SING THAT? HE'S GONNA FREAK! OH NO! HE'S FIGURING IT OUT NOW! JUST LOOK AT HIM!

Percy was trying to spin the ball on his finger not even noticing me staring at him…Sometimes I wonder why he's the love of my life…WAIT A SECOND! I DID _NOT_ JUST THINK THAT!

My thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of a ball whizzing past my head.

"QUIT IT, JACKSON! I'M THINKING!" I screamed.

In response he sang:

'Baby, you light up my world like no body else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

When you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't kno-o-ow, you don't know you're beautiful!'

The crowd went quiet. Well, at least in my head it did. Was he singing that to me? Did he have feelings for me? Why am I asking 'you' all of these questions? Thanks Seaweed Brain. You just gave me another row of questions to try and answer.

Thanks.

"Annabeth. The whole point of the game, is to actually _hit _the other opponent. 'Kay?" He said with a smile.

I glared at him. His smile wavered just a little. Yeah, that's right, Jackson. BE SCARED!

I smiled and made my way towards him slowly, like a panther zeroing in on its prey.

"Annabeth, I'm warning you." He said backing up against the glass wall holding a ball up, threatening to throw it.

"Trust me. Where you're going, you won't be needing that," I sneered. Fast as a viper, I threw the ball and watched it smack straight into Percy's stomach. He doubled over.

It took me a second to process what had just happened.

'_I won…I…won…OH MY GODS I BEAT PERCY! HAHAHAHAHA! I WON! TAKE THAT, JACKSON!'_

My team cheered. He crowd went wild. I turned and found Athena smirking at Percy, while his father was looking at him expectantly.

I turned back to Percy. He was still doubled over, but only for a second. He looked up at me and grinned.

What the heck?

He straightened and held up the ball. The Blue team cheered, and the crowd went wild again.

He had caught it. Which meant I was out.

Percy had won.

GOSH DARN IT!

Suddenly, Mr. D's voice rang over the loud speaker. "WHAT ARE YOU CHEERING FOR? THEY AREN'T DONE YET! IT'S TIME FOR CAPTURE THE FLAG!"

I paled. Oh no.

"THEY MUST TRY AND GET THE FLAG, WHICH IS NEAR ZEUS'S FIST, AND BRING IT BACK HERE! CAMPERS ARE GOING TO CHASE PERCY AND ANNABETH WHILE THROWING BALLS AT THEM! TRY NOT TO GET HIT! NOW GO!"

All the campers turned and stared at me and Percy.

We ran like our lives depended on it, with the entire Camp Half-Blood following us.

**oOoOoOoOoOo**

**Thanks for all the reviews! ^~^ Tee hee!**

**Rain~*  
><strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Maybe...

I lost Percy the moment we sprinted out of the giant temple…thing. The only thing that really concerned me at the moment was getting the heck outta there before 50 campers come at me with balls that can hurt me.

I ran so fast my legs felt like warm noodles. Weird comparison, I know.

Since my legs were burning, I decided to walk the rest of the way to the South woods.

Walking alone made me nervous. It wasn't the fact that I was alone and could've been mauled by monsters, where nobody would ever find me and they'd nickname me 'The Lost Demigod.' It was the fact that I had no map.

See, in my world 'No Map' = NO WAY OUT OF THE CREEPY WOODS!

So in other words, I was nervous. I had a few close calls (Like Clarisse chasing me down and nearly beheading me with her ball), but overall it wasn't so bad.

I did, however, keep my eyes peeled for traps. They were everywhere and I had to keep a close eye on where I stepped. Suddenly, I heard a snap behind me. Like the type people lost in the woods hear in a horror movie before they get eaten. I slowly turned. There was no one in sight.

This was probably my cue from the gods to run before my head gets bitten off, but I didn't see any point in running. It was just a stick. I mean, no one's gonna come out, stab me, steal all of my stuff then run away, right? Besides, there's not much to steal except my owl earrings, my knife, and well...my clothes. Another snap. This time I whirled around. Still nothing.

Talk about annoying.

I took a few more steps and heard the snap again. This time I didn't even turn around, I just kept marching forward.

All of a sudden, a hand shot out of the trees and grabbed my shoulder. I screamed bloody murder and slashed the hand with my knife.

"AH! What the heck, Annabeth? Jeez!" The owner of the hand screamed in pain. Turns out, the owner was Percy. The seaweed brain! He knows not to scare me like that! I swear sometimes I just wanna take his big, dumb, head and just beat it to a pulp. But if I did that, he wouldn't be here, and I would be morbidly depressed. Percy came out of the trees and examined his injured hand. A diagonal cut had formed on the back of his hand from where I had slashed at him. It was bleeding rapidly.

I covered my mouth with my hands. "I'm so, so sorry, Percy. I thought...Well, I thought you were some murderer trying to steal my clothes."

_Smooth, Annabeth. Smooth._

He looked at me weirdly. "Uuuh...no. I'm not a murderer."

I chuckled nervously. "I can see that."

There was an awkward silence.

"My hand hurts." Percy muttered.

"Of course it hurts! I cut you with a knife for heaven sakes!" I spluttered. Not knowing what else to do, I tore off a piece of my sleeve and wrapped it around his hand.

"There. All better."

He glanced at it then back up at me. "Can you kiss it to make it better?"

I stared at him. "Um...no."

He stuck out his bottom lip and made that puppy face that I can't resist.

I crossed my arms and turned away from him. "No, Percy."

I could feel him still staring at me, from behind.

_'Don't let him get to you, Annabeth! BE STRONG! BE STRONG!'_

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He was still staring at me with that irresistible smile, and those sea green eyes that seemed to gleam as if he had a secret that you didn't know about. His messy black hair sort of made is eyes pop, and-SNAP OUT OF IT, ANNABETH! HE'S TRYING TO MANIPULATE YOU! DON'T LET HIM CONTROL YOU LIKE SOME KIND OF PUPPET JUST BECAUSE HE LOOKS HOT!

Wait...DID I JUST CALL HIM HOT? OH GODS, I'M LOSING IT! I'M TURNING INTO ONE OF THOSE APHRODITE GIRLS WHO CAN'T THINK OF ANYONE, BUT THEMSELVES!

"Annabeth, why are you staring at me?" Percy asked with this confused look on his face. I blinked. I had been so busy yelling at myself that I didn't realize I was staring at him the entire time.

I felt a blush creeping to my cheeks. "Oh...uh...I was just...well, you see I-"

He cut me off with a sly grin. "Hehehehe."

"What are you laughing at?" I asked.

"You were staring at me."

"So?"

"You think I'm hot."

"I never said that!"

"You didn't have to."

"Um, I kind of did in order for you to be able to prove that I think it's true."

"So you do think it's true."

"Why am I arguing with you over this?"

"Because you're in denial."

I rolled my eyes. "Percy, I am not..." I stopped. I saw some of camp creeping up behind him. "Percy, LOOK OUT!" I screeched at the top of my lungs.

He whirled around and shoved me behind him protectively. (Awwww)

The campers came out from their hiding places. We were standing on front of a lake, which didn't light up my mood very much. They pressed us towards the lake.

You are probably gonna hate me for doing this, BUT I HAD TO SURVIVE! I shoved Percy towards them and screamed. "TAKE HIM!" I sprinted into the creek and dived under the creek water.

I could've stayed under there forever, except for one teeny, tiny, problem: Air.

I held my breath for as long as I could, but after a while I began to panic. I couldn't go back up there or I'd be injured by the entire camp and their scary dodge balls, and I couldn't hold my breath much longer!

I began to black out.

Suddenly, I felt warm, yet strangely dry, arms around me.

_'God?' _I thought to myself.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. The arms instead of pulling me up, were pulling me down to the bottom of the lake, which surprisingly, is very deep.

I struggled a little, because it's not every day random arms pop out and drag you to the bottom of a lake. At this point I was sure I was going to black out. I needed to get away from this creeper. NOW.

I was about to kick it in the...area and swim towards the surface, when I noticed a piece of cloth on its right hand.

Percy?

What the crud does he think he's doing? IS HE TRYING TO DROWN ME?

I felt a weird tickling sensation around me, forming a bubble. Ooooooooooh. Percy was trying to save me...I feel stupid.

Once the bubble was fully formed, I breathed in the sweet, sweet, symphony of air!

I gasped and coughed for a few more minutes, then looked up and glared at Percy.

He was staring at me with a bank expression.

Even though I wanted to strangled him to a pulp, I managed to control my anger by looking him strait in the eyes. That always makes most of my anger, and issues go away...Although PERCY sometimes uses it as an advantage to get the things he wants...Like at dinner when he wants my leftover cookie...ANYWAYS, back to the story.

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain." I muttered.

He smiled a little. "It'd be a shame if you drowned. Especially since you still owe me five dollars...and a cookie." See?

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever Seaweed Brain. Let's just wait until they leave okay?"

He nodded.

There was an awkward silence.

_'This is gonna be a loooooooooong wait.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Just finished Son of Neptune (I wanted to read it little by little so I wouldn't have to wait as long...didn't work out so well.) I officially hate Rick Riordan. HIM AND HIS STUPID CLIFFHANGERS! MY GOODNESS, I JUST WANNA STRANGLE HIM! RAAAWWWWWRR!<strong>

**Annabeth: Should we run now, Percy?**

**Percy: Eh, at least she doesn't have a weapon.**

**Me: *Pulls out a Muffin Bazooka* FACE THE WRATH OF MY MUFFIN BAZOOKA, RICK! **

**Percy: ...Me and my big mouth -_-**

**Annabeth: So...NOW we run?**

**Percy: No, wait...**

**Me: I WILL USE THIS BABY ON YOU, IN YOUR SLEEP...But I have to be home by nine because my mom will get worried...**

**Annabeth: O.o**

**Me: BUT I WILL USE IT! *Fires Muffin Bazooka*  
><strong>

**Percy: And now we run. **

***Percy and Annabeth run away***

**MWAHAHAHAHAHA! But since I don't really know where Rick lives, exactly...I'll use it on you if you don't review...hehehehehehehehehe.**

**Rain~*  
><strong>


	6. Chapter 6

Maybe...

I have to say, I was pretty much on the brink of having a mental breakdown. For one thing I was stuck at the bottom of a lake with one of the hottest guys at camp (Don't tell Percy I said that), and for another thing we had had to stay there until we were sure the rest of camp was gone.

Percy was standing there avoiding eye contact. He actually looked kind of cute (Not that I'd ever admit that to him).

_'Come on, Annie. Just kiss Percy, what's wrong with that?'_ Said a voice in my head. **(*Cough* *Cough* My dad is hermes what now *Cough* *Cough*)**

As if things weren't awkward enough! _'Shut up.' _I told the voice.

"Do you think they're gone?" Percy asked. I shrugged in response.

There was another awkward silence.

"So..." I started. "How are things with you and Rachel?"

It took all of my willpower not to face-palm right there.

"Um...pretty good I guess. I'm thinking about getting her something, but I'm not sure what to get her. I mean, she's so artsy and she already has three sketchbooks!" Percy said running a hand through his hair. (SQUEEEE!) Shut up, girly side of me!

I wouldn't have answered if he hadn't looked so stressed out.

"Well...what about...uh...paint." I offered. Percy looked me in the eye for the first time in weeks.

"You want me to get my girlfriend," I cringed at the word 'girlfriend'. "Paint?"

"You got something better?" I retorted.

Percy thought for a moment. "Nah. I'll just go with paint."

I couldn't help but grin. We sat at the bottom of the lake staring at catfish swim by in a comfortable silence. That's when the soft music started playing. At first I was a little freaked out. I mean, it's not everyday you hear music at the bottom of a lake. Then again, you're not at the bottom of a lake everyday either...MOVING ON! Gradually, the music played louder. A male's voice drifted through the murky water.

**_There you see her_**

**_Sitting there across the way,_**

**_She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her,_**

I glanced at Percy with a raised eyebrow. He was blushing crimson. I had heard the song before, but at that moment I couldn't quite place my finger on where. Suddenly, I saw a bright red crab drift out from behind a patch of seaweed. The crab was singing. There was a singing crab, under the lake...I really need to go see a doctor.

**_And you don't know why, but you're dying to try,_**

**_You wanna and kiss the girl!_**

Wait...WHAT? I turned to face Percy. He had his head in his hands and looked bright red.

"Did you hear something?" I asked, sure that I'd gone mental. He gave me an innocent smile, and shrugged, still resembling a tomato.

**_Yes, you want her,_**

**_Look at her you know ya do._**

**_It's possible she wants you too,_**

**_There is one way to ask her._**

Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it! I kept chanting that over and over in my head. I had every single thing that I could cross on my body crossed. Except for my arms, eyes, and legs. Percy would think I was some weirdo.

**_It don't take a word not a single word,_**

**_Go on and kiss the girl._**

I sighed in exasperation. He said it. The crab swam to the bottom of the lake and called, "Sing with me now!"

Every single fish known to man kind came forward and joined in the chorus. EVEN SOME DOLPHINS! They began circling the bubble.

**_Sha-la-la-la-la-la,_**

_**My, oh, my **_

_**Look like the boy's too shy,**_

_**He ain't gonna kiss the girl.**_

I thought about screaming, "I'M NOT GONNA KISS PERCY, SO GET OVER IT!" But I thought better of it. That would probably hurt their feelings. Besides they're animals. They'd probably drag me to the bottom of the lake the next time I went swimming.

_**Sha-la-la-la-la-la,**_

**_Ain't that sad?_**

**_Ain't it a shame, too bad._**

**_He gonna miss the girl._**

"Look, I'm really sorry about this." Percy mumbled. "I told them not to, but they did anyway."

I laughed at his expression. He was glaring at them, like they'd pay for this later.

"It's okay." I said at last. "At least it makes things less awkward."

It was Percy's turn to laugh. "That's true."

"I'm sorry about getting upset at Rachel. She just makes me so...well mad." I said with a sigh.

Percy nodded. "And I'm sorry for getting all defensive about her. It's just she's the only girl I really like, besides-" He stopped abruptly. My eyes widened.

"Besides who?"

"Nevermind. I like Rachel and that's all." Percy said crossing his arms.

Ouch.

I felt that. Right in the _SOUL_. It was clear he wasn't going to talk about it. He was afraid I was going to tell Rachel. Great. Just great.

_**Now's your moment,**_

A baby guppy swam up and started nodding.

**_(Ya, ya, ya)  
><em>**

**_Floating in a blue lagoon._**

Some more baby guppies swam up to the bubble and starting singing and nodding too.

_**(Ya, ya, ya)**_

_**Boy, you better do it soon,**_

_**No time would be better.  
><strong>_

_**(Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya**__**)**_

**_She don't say a word, _**

**_And she won't say a word until ya,_**

**_Kiss the girl!_**

Won't say a word? I TALK! What's up with that? I'm not mute or anything. Geez, this crab needs to get the facts right. Why does he think I'm mute? Suddenly, it hit me! The Little Mermaid! That's where the song came from! Wait...if this came from The Little Mermaid, and there's a red, singing crab, does that mean that Sebastian's real? Now I REALLY need to see a doctor.

Another round of animals floated around us and began singing. If only I had brought my invisibility cap. *Sigh*

_**Sha-la-la-la-la-la,**_

_**Don't be scared,**_

_**You got the mood prepared,**_

_**Go on and,**_

_**Kiss the girl!**_

I'm not scared I'm just...not Percy's girlfriend. *Sniffle*

**_Sha-la-la-la-la-la,_**

**_Don't stop now, _**

**_Don't try to hide it how,_**

**_You wanna kiss the girl._**

Why do these animals even want us to kiss? I thought to myself. They MUST have lives. I mean, they're animals for heaven's sake! What is so important about getting me and Percy to kiss? Not that I'm complaining. I'm actually hoping these animals succeed.

**_Sha-la-la-la-la-la,_**

**_Float along,_**

**_And listen to this song,_**

**_The song say,_**

_**Kiss the girl.**_

I started swaying to the music. Percy gave me a look that said, 'What. Are. You. Doing?' I giggled and swayed some more.

_**Sha-la-la-la-la-la,**_

_**Music play,**_

**_Do what the music say,_**

_**You wanna kiss the girl.**_

I hadn't realized that the bubble was getting smaller. The fish had been making it smaller while they circled around it. Percy and I were getting forced into each other. I looked at Percy and he stared back at me. The animals began whispering.

**_Kiss the girl,_**

**_You wanna kiss the girl,_**

Percy and I were two inches apart, still staring at each other. I felt like a thousand butterflies were pounding against my insides begging to be let out. I couldn't feel my legs anymore, and it was a good thing we were underwater otherwise I might not have been able to stand.

**_Gonna kiss the girl,_**

_**Go on and kiss the girl!**_

I swear, I could've killed something right there, because just as we were about to kiss, we heard a loud rumble coming from above the surface. Percy pulled away quickly and cleared his throat. "We should - I mean - We need to - Well - Let's go - Um - See what that was."

If I wasn't so mad I would've laughed.

* * *

><p>Our bubble rose to the surface, and we dragged ourselves onto the Camp beach. The rumble was from none other than, Athena. Apparently, Ares had told her that her daughter, A.K.A. Me, was down at the bottom of a lake making-out with Poseidon's son. He said that Aphrodite had been sitting in front of a TV, with a handkerchief, sobbing. He had gotten worried so he walked over to see what she was watching. Her response? 'I'm watching true love blossom! It's beautiful isn't it?'<p>

Ares still hated Percy for beating him, a couple years back, so he decided to have his revenge. Ares told my mom that we were making out at the bottom of a lake, and she had gotten so mad, she came down from Olympus, and demanded to know where I was. Nobody knew of coarse so she had gotten mad, and caused the earth to rumble.

The Blue team had won the game. It turns out we were down there for TWO HOURS! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I got stuck with having a long, long, LONG, lecture from my mom, about our actions.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT COULD'VE HAPPENED TO YOU DOWN THERE? HE COULD'VE ABUSED YOU IN WAYS I SHOULDN'T EVEN MENTION! MY GOODNESS, ANNABETH! TWO HOURS! YOU HAVE TO _BREATHE_! MAKING OUT AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE? NEVER, IN MY LIFE, HAVE I BEEN SO ASHAMED IN YOU! I SHOULD PUNISH YOU! _TWO HOURS!_ WITH THAT SEA-BRAT! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS WHEN NOBODY KNEW WHERE YOU WERE? I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN DANGER!"

Even worse? The entire camp was watching and trying not to laugh. After a while, she finally calmed down, and let me go, much to my relief. I walked down to the beach. Percy was sitting there, as usual.

"Hey." I said as I sat down.

He smiled. "Hey. Is your mom finished chewing you out?"

I nodded. "She's done lecturing me. Thank the gods."

He turned to face me. "Like I said, I'm really sorry about what happened in the lake. I...the fish...I just..." He trailed off.

I looked him in the eye. "And like _I_ said. It's okay."

We stared at each other for what seemed forever. His sea-green eyes bore into mine. My throat closed up and for a moment I forgot how to breathe. He leaned in and so did I. It was a very cheesy, yet blissful moment when -

"OH MY GODS, PERCY! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?"

We both spun around. There stood the last person I wanted to see.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

* * *

><p><strong>I'M BACK! Sorry, my dad took away my laptop, so I couldn't post as often...but I snuck online while he went to the grocery store to buy broccoli or something- . BLECCH! Hee hee hee. I'm so bad. Anyway, REVIEW! PLEASE! I decided to make this longer since I made you guys wait so long. TEE HEE! REVIEW!<br>**

**Rain~***


	7. Chapter 7

Maybe

Percy stood up looking pale. "Rachel we were just—I was—It's not what you think we were—I-"

I know I should've felt really bad, but honestly, I was ticked off. SHE. RUINED. THE. BEAUTIFUL. MOMENT!

I noticed someone was behind Rachel. She had black hair, and dark brown eyes. I took a closer look, and the one thing that racked my brain at that moment was: SILENA?

Rachel's lip was trembling, and she looked on the verge of tears. The bad side of me thought, _'Serves her right. She STOLE MY MAN! Gods, she's being so over-dramatic. It's not like we were ACTUALLY kissing.'_

But the good side of me thought, _'Percy IS her boyfriend, and no girl deserves to be cheated on. Oh my gods, I feel SOOOOOOO guilty.'_

Percy tried to explain himself, but looked so nervous I felt bad for him. "Rachel its not - We were just - It's not what you think!"

She shook her head making her auburn curls swish back and forth. "You - You cheated on me! W - With h - HER!"

Percy turned towards me with a look of guilt. I honestly don't see what the big deal is here. I mean, it's not like we were actually GONNA kiss.

Well...on second thought...nevermind.

Percy was muttering soft things in her ear. He had his hands on her wrists, and was trying to comfort her, much to my displeasure. Rachel had her head in her hands, and kept shaking her her back and forth like she couldn't believe this was happening.

Honestly, _I _couldn't believe this was happening either. I mean, ME, Annabeth Chase, caught 'making out' with PERCY JACKSON, savior of Olympus and the rest of the world?

Never in my life would I have thought that I would be stuck in such an awkward position.

I kicked the sand casually and took a great interest in my sneakers. They were converse and were a pretty shade purple.

Silena walked up behind me and whispered. "Sorry. I thought you guys were in the sword arena, and the beach is farthest away from that. It's all my fault."

I patted her shoulder. "It's okay. We weren't doing that much anyway."

She stared at me for a moment, then scoffed. "That's the understatement of the year."

I instantly felt guilty again.

I walked up to Rachel and mumbled, "Sorry for kissing your boyfriend behind your back."

She looked up at me through her hands. I could she the redness in her eyes. She looked sincerely heartbroken. I knew I was going to regret this later, but I just had to do it. I couldn't stand to see her that depressed, even if she DID tick me off sometimes...

"Rachel, I promise to stay as far away from Percy as possible. It was MY fault. I'M the one who talked him into kissing me. Don't hate Percy for something I did." I took a deep breath. "I can now see you two really love each other, and I promise not to interfere. In fact, I swear on the river Styx I won't interfere with Percy and Rachel's relationship."

Thunder boomed ahead. My words echoed inside my, now regretful, brain. _I can see you two really love each other, and I promise not to interfere._

Oh, man. That wounded me. I felt that one.

Percy looked at me absolutely astonished, but I saw flecks of disappointment in his eyes. Silena looked angry. Why the heck is she angry?

Rachel shook her head. "No. Don't say that to me. I - I understand. I can always find someone else." She sniffled. Aww. That's so nice of her!

"Rachel, I'm staying away, and there's nothing you can do about it. I don't want to interfere with you and Percy's relationship."

"Annabeth - " She started but I cut her off.

"Rachel, really. It's fine. I've got other friends besides Percy. I'm a big girl, and I can handle it."

RIGHT. IN. THE. SOUL!

For the first time in her life, Rachel smiled at me. Not one of those fake ones she usually gives me, but a real, actual smile. I had to smile back.

"Thanks, Annabeth." She sniffled again. "But are you sure? I mean, I don't want you to completely IGNORE Percy."

That's kind of the whole idea...

"I'm sure Rachel. And your welcome."

It was the first time in my life I had actually felt a softer side for Rachel. Funny. I guess seeing her all heartbroken reminded me of myself when Luke had left. I felt so miserable Like everything that I had put my trust in had disappeared. The only thing I could really trust was Percy. He'd always come through. I fund that out this year, and now I was going to be away from him...for like, the rest of the summer. WHAT DID I JUST DO?

Percy smiled at me. It wasn't a happy smile, it was a sympathetic smile. "Well...I'll see you around camp."

I nodded. "Yup."

Percy and Rachel walked away hand in hand, laughing as they went. The thing that hurt the most? Percy didn't look back. Not once.

I sighed and tried to blink the tears out of my eyes. Silena on the other hand was whimpering like a chihuahua. "Please, please, PLEASE tell me you did NOT just do that!"

I looked at her with tears in my eyes. "I think I just did."

She shook her head and placed an arm around me. "It's okay, Annabeth. Things will work out. I know it."

Suddenly, there was a bright pink light. Then the voice came, "ANNABETH CHASE! YOU JUST RUINED PLAN PERCABETH!"

Oh just fantastic. Aphrodite. She was looking furious. Aphrodite looked beautiful, as usual, but this time she was carrying a pink staff around with her.

The only thing I could think to say was, "Um...plan what?"

"Percabeth. It's you and Percy's names put together." She said clearly annoyed.

"Oh...well I - " I started, but the next thing I knew she bonked me in the head with the neon pink staff.

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

"Ow?"

Silena stepped in. "Mother, Annabeth only did it to protect Percy's heart. If she didn't, then Rachel would've broken up with him, and Percy would've been heartbroken!"

The goddess turned on Silena, "THAT'S THE PERFECT TIME TO STEP IN! IT'S LIKE NATURE! YOU DON'T GO FOR THE HEALTHY AND STRONG ONES! YOU GO FOR THE SICK AND WEAK ONES! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?"

I raised my hand. "Um, I sort of did this."

She pointed her staff at me. "I. Am. Aware."

Silena started back up again, "Mother, things are going to work out because - "

Aphrodite cut her off. "We will talk about this later!"

With that, there was a bright beam of light, and the the goddess of love was gone.

Silena collapsed onto the sand and put her head in her hands. "Fantastic. Now she's gonna hate me."

I blinked. "Silena, she's the goddess of love. I don't think she's capable of 'hating'."

I saw her black mess of hair nod up and down. "You have a point. Come on, it's almost dinner time. Chiron might come looking for us."

I helped her up, and together we headed down to the dinning hall. I thought things were going to start getting better, but, boy, did I think wrong.

* * *

><p><strong>DeadM4nStudios: Your welcome! LOL!<strong>

**Kiransomers: Sorry about that! LOL! I'm pretty sure I just killed you with this GODS, I'M A MURDERER!**

**MaydayParade8123: HAHAHA! Yeah she interrupts almost everything in this story. **

**spazmonkey s-j: Yeah. I just thought up the game in the back of my mind. There really wasn't much of a purpose, except for the slow emotions of PERCABETH 8D!**

**perceabeth: Aww thank you! That seriously means a lot to me!**

**Arocksprpl2: That's exactly what I thought while writing that chapter! XD**

**Rosiedude007: Thanks! I try to make these chapters funny, but sometimes it just isn't as funny as I thought it was. :/ *Sigh***

**Everyone: I want to read all of your reviews. I LOVE reading them, and laughing at certain ones. Please, for my sake...REVIEW!**

**PS: Sorry for the lack of Percbeth. There will be more to come. TEEHEE!  
><strong>

**Rain~***


	8. Chapter 8

Maybe

The next day was an entire blur. Normally, I would train and hang out with Percy for the rest of the day, but as much as I hate to admit it, I felt alone again.

The only one I had was Thalia. I mean, she's great and everything, but sometimes I feel like there are some things that are to be kept quiet when I'm around her.

Before I knew it, a week had gone by, and Percy had been avoiding me ALL WEEK, but much to my pleasure, me being away from him has made a big impact on poor little Percy. He looked more tired than usual, he had ugly bags under his eyes, his hair was a mess (As usual), and he looked nervous, as if something were about to jump out and grab him.

He also seemed to be avoiding Rachel a lot more, which was very enjoyable to watch, but hurt me even more. He'd noticed me staring at him. I'd give him this friendly smile, but he'd never smile back. He would just turn his head away, and walk the opposite direction.

* * *

><p>"BOYS ARE <em>SOOOOOOO <em>CONFUSING!" I cried as I flopped down onto the floor of Thalia's cabin. Silena was there as well but she sat criss-cross on Thalia's bed, eating a bag of Oreo's.

Silena popped an Oreo into her mouth and said in between chews, "I know. One minute they're hitting on you, then the next minute they're like, 'Later!' and go for another girl. It's really annoying."

Thalia smiled slyly. "You could always join the Hunters!"

I shook my head. No way was I leaving Percy with, *Dun, dun, DUN!* Rachel. *Thunder Booms and Lightning Strikes*

"What am I supposed to do? I swore on the river Styx, like the idiot that I am, to stay away from him. AND IT'S SLOWLY KILLING ME INSIDE!" I put my head in my hands. Thalia chuckled. "Yeah, that's probably the stupidest thing you've ever done, and I thought you were a daughter of Athena. You're supposed to do SMART things."

"Thanks, Thalia." I groaned sarcastically. Silena set down the Oreos and gave me a giant hug. "We'll figure something out."

"Yeah," Thalia mumbled with a mouth full of Oreos, "Eberyting bill be dine!"

Silena opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. Suddenly, her face lit up like she just had the greatest idea ever. She whirled around to face me. "I JUST HAD THE GREATEST IDEA EVER!"

Um...

"Let's go..." She paused for dramatic affect. "SHOPPING!"

"NO!" Thalia and I said at the same time.

Silena pouted. "Aww, come on! It could be fun!"

Thalia scoffed. "Yeah, COULD be. I am NOT going shopping. Annabeth agrees with me. Don't you, Annabeth."

I hesitated. Silena was trying to be nice, and help me feel better. I knew it'd be mean if I just turned her down. Silena gave me a puppy-dog face. "Pleeeeeaaaaaaassseee?"

I sighed. I'm TOTALLY gonna regret this later. "Fine. I'll go shopping with you, Silena."

Thalia's mouth dropped to the floor.

"Great! I'll go ask Chiron for permission to leave camp! This is gonna be so much FUN!" Silena gave my arm a squeeze, and flounced out of the cabin.

Thalia, on the other hand, stared at me in horror. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

I smiled. "Chiron isn't gonna let us put our lives in danger, just to go SHOPPING."

It took her a minute, but she straightened, "Well, I'm going to go...do something. Have fun on your shopping spree!"

She was about to bolt out the door, when I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. In a stern voice I said, "If I'm going down," I jabbed a finger at her. "Then YOUR coming with me."

No way was I going ALONE with Silena in a mall. That just was NOT going to happen.

Thalia made a face. "Do I HAVE to?"

"Yes." I said trying to look scary. I knew it wasn't working though, because it took A LOT to scare Thalia. She seemed to give in because she shrugged my hand off of her arm, and marched out the door muttering, "I should've jumped out the window."

* * *

><p>It was during archery, when Silena ran up to me squealing. "He let us go! We can go shopping!"<p>

I was so shocked I dropped the bow. It fell to the floor, along with the arrow. "WHAT?" I screeched.

She squealed. "I know right?"

Well, at least I have Thalia, right?

Silena grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the Zeus cabin. "Let's go tell Thalia! She'll be psyched!"

_'Right.' _I thought. _'Psyched.'_

Once we reached the cabin, Silena eagerly knocked on the door. We waited for a good five minutes before I stepped up, pounded on the door, and yelled, "THALIA, LET US IN! WE'RE NOT KIDNAPPERS!"

There was a silence, before the door slowly creaked open, and there stood Thalia. "What do you want?"

Silena grinned. "We're going shopping!"

All Hades broke loose.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my goodness. I'm getting a huge reaction from this! Sorry for the lack of Percabeth. I've been having a bit of...*Dun, Dun, DUN!* Writer's Block. Anywho...um...yeah...Please review! I swear on the river Styx I will fix this Prachel crisis. I've found out how :)<strong>

**Rain~*  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9

Maybe…

Thalia's eye was twitching and she looked like she might explode. Quick as a wink, Thalia lunged at me and screamed, "TELL ME IT ISN'T TRUE! SHE'S LYING, RIGHT?"

A little uncomfortable, I slowly shook my head back and forth. Thalia let go of me, began pacing and muttering random things like "He...us...let...go...monsters...cotton candy...SHOPPING!"

It took her a good ten minutes to calm down and form a complete sentence. "W-w-w-WHAT?"

Silena nodded totally oblivious to Thalia's reaction. "Yup! Isn't that exciting?"

"NO!"

Silena giggled. "Chrion said we could take a bus to the city. Argus will drive us!"

She skipped out the door and began jogging towards the hill. I glanced at Thalia. You know the face that people make when their annoyed? The one that looks like this: -_-

That's pretty much how her face looked.

I smiled. "Come on, Thalia." I changed my voice into a happy cheery one. "Let's go SHOPPING!"

"I'm gonna hate every minute of this." Thalia mumbled as I dragged her down to the waiting van, that would take us to the city.

* * *

><p>Argus dropped us off in front of a ginormous building. It was twenty feet high, and looked like it had a lot of floors. I heard Thalia gulp. It had been a LONG time, since I had gone shopping, so I wasn't exactly sure how it worked.<p>

"So we just walk in or -" I turned to Silena. To my panic, she was gone. "Silena?"

Thalia looked around confused. "Where'd she go?"

We called her name for a couple minutes.

Thalia turned to me. "It's no use! Where else could she have gone?"

Silently, I pointed to the big, brass doors leading into the mall. "In there."

Thalia's eyes widened. "No!" She gripped my shoulder and gave me a little shake. "Anywhere, but there."

I looked at her, with a solemn look. "It's the only way."

Looking back on it, I guess we were being pretty dramatic, but, hey, that was the first time I'd ever been shopping in the past eight years, so cut me some slack. Thalia took a deep breath, then gripped my hand. "You ready?"

I nodded. Then, together, we charged the giant, gleaming brass door, our only chance of finding Silena. We ran, and ran, and ran until -

_SLAM!_

*****We crashed directly into the door of doom. We both fell backwards flat onto the concrete. Thalia rubbed her head grumpily. "What is with this door?"

I scanned it for a moment then mentally face palmed. "Thalia? You better take a look at this." She came up behind me. "What?"

Slowly, I pointed to a sign, and read it out loud. "CAUTION: PULL DOOR."

Thalia blushed. "Oh."

PULLING the door, we managed to get inside without causing anymore damage. It took us a while, but we found Silena looking at a rack of sparkly clothing.

Thalia and I marched up to her panting.

She looked up. "Hey! Where've you guys been? I heard this slam coming from the door, but I wasn't sure if it was you."

We looked at each other. "It's a long story."

Silena looked back and forth between us, but shrugged. "Come on! I want to show you guys something."

* * *

><p>We followed an excited Silena, through the entire store. The only thing I could see was pink, pink, and guess what? MORE PINK! Silena may have been horrible at sword fighting, but she was quick. We finally stopped in front of a store labeled '<span>Melissa's Make-overs<span>' **(A/N: Fake store)**.

Thalia seemed to have noticed the sign, because she began to back away. I grabbed her before she could take off. The lady at the counter looked us each over. She was thin, had bleached blonde hair, and pale blue eyes. When she spoke she used a thick French accent. "Can I help yous?"

Silena nodded. "Um, yes, we would all like make-overs."

The lady nodded. "Just one second. I be with you in minute." With that she walked to the back of the store and disappeared. Thalia grabbed Silena by the arm. "You didn't say ANYTHING about a make-over."

Silena crossed her arms innocently. "And you didn't say anything about crashing into a door."

There was an awkward silence.

"Yeah. I saw you guys. It was pretty funny actually." She giggled a little.

"That's...different." Thalia huffed. "Besides how were WE supposed to know that you had to PULL the door, and not PUSH?"

"If you push then you end up hitting someone, who's coming out, in the face." Silena said simply. Thalia gave up. After a while the lady took us back and made us sit in these salon chairs.

She pulled at our hair and rubbed strange powder on our faces. When the lady was FINALLY done, I was ready to jump up and leave. She handed me a mirror, and smiled kindly at me.

At first I thought that she had drawn a mustache on my face, but when I took a look in the mirror my jaw dropped to the floor.

They had curled my hair, even more than it already was, which cascaded around my shoulders; gray eyeshadow had been brushed lightly around my eyes, which gave me a smoky look; black mascara, that made my stormy gray eyes pop, and a bit of blush on my cheeks. I'm pretty sure they added eyeliner as well, but I wasn't really paying attention. Some light pink lipstick had been brushed on my lips, to make them look, what did they say? 'More kissable?' Anyway, in other words, I looked COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

"You like?" The lady asked me. In a trance from staring at myself in the mirror, I nodded slowly. Silena came up to me, looking WAY prettier than usual, and squealed in delight. "Oh my gosh, Annabeth! You look GORGEOUS!"

"Not as gorgeous as you!" I said back. She had curled her long black hair, and had sparkly eye shadow on.

"If you ladies are done, we should probably go get something to eat. It's 12:36." Thalia said coming up behind me. The people didn't do much (Probably because she wouldn't let them), but they put a little eye shadow on, and some black mascara. Her hair was straight as a board, which surprisingly was a good look on her.

Silena and I nodded. Together, me, Silena, and a grumpy Thalia walked down to the food court. We ordered our food and plopped down at the nearest table. Once we were finished eating, we sat there just staring at each other awkwardly. Finally, Thalia broke the silence.

Thalia sighed. "Well, that was absolutely terrifying."

I laughed. "Aw come on. You know you loved every minute of it."

Silena giggled.

Suddenly, Thalia's eyes lit up. "OH MY GODS!"

She jumped up from the table and ran in the opposite direction, leaving Silena and I by ourselves. Not knowing what else to do, Silena and I followed.

When we finally found Thalia, she was sitting on top of a blue, plastic kiddie train, inserting three quarters into the machine.

Silena looked confused. "Um, Thalia? What are you doing?"

"I've always wanted to ride one of these, but my mom always told me that they were a waste of money. Now I get to find out!" Thalia replied.

The machine whirred to life. She slowly went back and forth shouting, "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Thalia looked so ridiculous on top of the thing, especially since she was three times bigger than it was. The little episode was drawing a lot of people's attention. Some were pointing and others were laughing. This was a totally different side of Thalia, a side that I have never seen before.

Silena grinned a little and whipped out her iPhone. I gaped at her. "I didn't know you had a phone!"

She gave it a little twirl. "I never use it, but..." She handed it to Thalia, pushed a button, and a familiar song began to play.

'I like 'em big,

I like 'em chunky,

I like 'em big,

I like 'em plumpy'

We stared at her, while she cracked up laughing. Thalia shrugged and made these 'Hot' poses on the train, listening to 'Big and Chunky' From Madagascar 2, while the ride was still going.

It went on like that for a couple more minutes, when a couple that looked like they were in their twenties, made disgusted faces at Thalia.

She waved to them and said, "YEAH THAT'S RIGHT! CHECK OUT MY HT NEW RIDE! IT COMES WITH A HORN, TOO!" Thalia stooped down and pushed a flashing red button on the cartooned train. Suddenly, a train whistle blew. "THAT'S RIGHT! IT'S HOT! NOW MOVE ALONG!"For effect, she beeped the train whistle again.

Silena and I were literally on the ground from laughing so hard.

* * *

><p>By the end of the day, my hands were full from carrying all of these different shopping bags. My arms and legs ached from walking around. I had no idea how Silena did this for FUN.<p>

Although in this one store, we had changed into very sparkly clothes. Thalia had a gray tank top, with sparkly, black, sleeveless cardigan; black skinny jeans; and black, checkered vans. I had a white tank top; a gray, sparkly, sleeveless cardigan; gray skinny jeans; and gray high-top converse. Silena was wearing black tank top; sparkly, white sleeveless cardigan; white skinny jeans; and white flats.

Kind of cliche to dress up the same, but hey, I needed some cheering up.

Each one of Argus's eyes widened when he pulled up to pick us up. I had to admit though, we DID look pretty stunning.

One the way to Camp, one of those songs by Adele came on, and we all grinned at each other.

"WE COULD OF HAD IT , ROLLING IN THE ! YOU HAD MY HEART INSIIIIIIIDE OF YOUR HAAAND, AND YOU PLAYED IT, TO THE BEATING!"

Argus looked like he wanted to jump out of the window. So for him, we stopped singing.

When we reached the camp, and lugged our stuff back to our cabins, I took a glance at myself in the mirror. I actually didn't look all that bad. I figured that I might as well leave the make up on for the whole world to see. It would take ages to scrub it off, anyway.

* * *

><p>At dinner time, we all sat down a the pavilion and gave our offerings to the gods. I led my table to the bonfire to scrape the juiciest piece of chicken I had into the flames.<p>

On my way back to my table, I accidentally bumped into someone hard. Good news: The food didn't fly off of my plate. Bad news: The person I crashed into was Percy Jackson. And when he saw me, his mouth dropped to the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>I AM OFFICIALLY GOING TO START FIXING THE PERCABETH IN THIS STORY! YAYAYAYAYAY! <strong>

***= I have actually done that before at the mall. I thought you were supposed to push instead of pull, and I ran straight into the door. Not fun.**

**Anyway, review please! Thanks!  
><strong>

**Rain~*  
><strong>


	10. Chapter 10

Maybe...

So there I was standing in front of the whole camp, with Percy staring at me like I had just dropped from planet Jupiter.

I held my plate in one hand and gave Percy a small wave, "Hey."

For a second he didn't say anything. I watched as his mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of something to say.

"How about 'hi'." I suggested. Percy blinked then nodded. "Hi."

There was an awkward silence. I wanted to turn back to my table and finish my, now cold, chicken wing, but for some odd reason my feet absolutely refused to move. Grrr…I hate it when my body teams up against me.

To my surprise, Percy broke the silence. "So…what happened to you."

I looked down and blushed. "Silena."

"Oh. That explains the makeup and everything." He said with a laugh. I smiled while nodding. It was good to be able to talk to Percy again. WAIT A MINUTE!

I turned to Percy with a worried expression. "Percy, I swore on the river Styx I'd stay away from you."

Percy stuffed his hands in his pockets, with a sly grin. "Yeah. But_ I_ don't have to stay away from _you_."

Slowly, I began to smile. "Well, I guess you're right."

"You bet I am." Percy said. "I am ALWAYS right, and there is nothing a little girl-" He pointed a finger at me. "Such as yourself, can do about it." He crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. I raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a challenge, Seaweed Brain?" I retorted.

Percy smiled sweetly. "Oh I'm sorry. I forgot you don't catch on that quickly. Yes, Annie dear, it IS a challenge."

I stared at him with a look of part offense and part impressed. Percy had obviously done his share of getting better comebacks.

I was about to reply, when suddenly-

_I've been really tryin', baby,_

_Tryin' to hold back this feeling, for soo long, now,_

_If you feel, like I feel, baby,_

_Then come on, oh, come on._

I instantly recognized it. 'Let's Get it On' By Marvin Gaye. Geez, what is this High School Musical?

Slowly, I turned to Percy, he was glaring at someone behind me. I looked to my right, and sure enough Grover Underwood was standing there holding a pink, diamond encrusted iPod Touch, clearly enjoying the shades of red our faces were turning.

"GROVER!" Percy and I yelled at the same time. He jumped three feet in the air, and started rapidly pushing different buttons muttering, "Okay, okay. I'm turning it off, I'm turning it off. Sheesh, I just wanted some fun. After all, It IS Monday..."

After that, he trudged away towards his girlfriend, Juniper.

I thought it would be all awkward between Percy and me, but he looked at me as if nothing had happened and said, "Why was it pink?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Why was his iPod pink?"

I shook my head. "Who knows. It's Grover we're talking about here." Percy wasn't through. "Well, why did he have one? I mean, demigods aren't supposed to have them so-"

"But satyrs are allowed to have them and if you would please sit down, and stop FLIRTING with each other that would be wonderful. Mr. Jackson? Ms. Chase?" A voice interrupted us.

_Oh no..._

I spun around, and instantly wished that I hadn't. The entire dinning pavilion was staring at me and Percy. Mr. D had a microphone in his hand, and Chrion was looking at us clearly amused. The Aphrodite cabin was whispering to each other, Thalia was smirking, Grover was looking pretty sheepish, and Nico was sulking-Well, that's normal, but you get the point. This could only mean one thing: They had seen the entire thing.

_'So THAT'S why Grover came and played that song! He wanted us to go sit down and not embarrass ourselves even more!' _I mentally face-palmed.

To be honest, I sort of forgot where we were. *Sigh* I guess being with Percy does that to me.

I quickly gathered up my plate and headed back towards my table. They were all snickering and trying not to laugh.

"Go ahead." I grumbled. They all burst out in exaggerated laughs simultaneously. "Yeah. Okay, I get it. That was hysterically funny, now shut up and eat your peas."

* * *

><p>At the campfire, I sat as far away as I could from Percy. Do you know how awkward it'd be if we were caught sitting next to each other? Ugh. I don't even want to think about it.<p>

Normally we'd sing camp songs and stuff like that, but tonight we all just sort of stared at each other awkwardly.

Finally, Mr. D ordered us to entertain him, by doing something exciting.

"We could share each other's feelings!" A voice said behind us. We all screamed simultaneously.

You can probably guess who said that...

Aphrodite looked at us totally offended, "Oh, come on! I'm not THAT hideous!"

"Aphrodite, what are you doing here?" Mr. D said in an annoyed tone. She was examining herself in a floating, golden mirror, and was fixing her hair and re-doing her make-up. "I got bored so...I came here."

_Please don't notice me. Please don't notice me. Please don't notice me. _I chanted over and over in my head.

"Silena! How are you and Beckendorf doing?" She asked. Silena blushed bright red and hissed. "Not now, Mom!"

I sighed in relief. She didn't notice me. THANK THE GODS! Apparently, the gods did not want to be thanked at the moment, **(A/N: LOVE THAT LINE!) **because she whipped around to face me.

"Annabeth, how are you and Percy doing, hm?" Aphrodite smiled warmly. DARN IT! She noticed me. The camp turned to snicker at me. I don't understand...WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME!

Aphrodite laughed as if hearing my thoughts. "Because it's fun to watch your reactions! Apollo's betting you two will end up together in about a week; Ares thinks maybe tomorrow, don't ask me WHAT he's thinking; And Athena is just not pleased at all, but no one cares what she thinks."

_'THE GODS BET ON ME AND PERCY!'_ I practically screamed inside my head.

Aphrodite tossed her hair. "Besides you two are the cutest couple since Romeo and Juliet!" She squealed like a little girl but then added, "Well, that and Thalico. I'm still trying to work out the kinks..."

Thalia jumped up, "HEY!"

"Oh don't deny it darling! You'll see in a few weeks." Thalia's eyes widened, as she whispered to Silena, "She's joking, right?"

Silena said nothing.

"RIGHT?"

Nico looked a little uncomfortable. I couldn't really blame him tough. I mean, Thalia is three years older than him, AND she's in the hunters, so I' not really sure how that's gonna work. Maybe if she stayed in the hunters for the next three years? Oh, well. Aphrodite will find a way. She always does.

The love goddess made some boys come up and sing, 'Just the Way You Are' by Bruno Mars. They obviously were a little frightened by her so they sang. To my surprise they actually did pretty good. Travis grabbedKaie and spun her around a couple times. I thought he was gonna get a slap in the face, but Katie seemed to be njoying herself. Grover and Juniper were doing some crazy dances moves that were totally off beat. I couldn't hold in my laughter, but that's when I noticed something strange.

I spotted Rachel across the fire from me. I expected her to be either:

A) Staring daggers at me

B) Dancing with Percy

OR

C) Sitting there being Rachel.

Instead of all of options, she was staring at a boy. A boy who was obviously NOT Percy...

* * *

><p><strong>CLIFFHANGERS ROCK! Please keep reviewing! Your reviews are very amusing to me. LOL! <strong>

**MissPayne143: OH MY GOSH! I could not stop laughing for TEN MINUTES STRAIGHT! My mom thought something was wrong with me...and yeah, I've had my fair share of embarrassing myself by running into things too. Once I was texting a friend while walking to third period and I ran straight into a locker making a really loud CLANG! It was a really awkward moment for me because everyone was like, "Oh my gosh, did she seriously just run into a locker while TEXTING?" Yeah, not a high point of the morning...**

**Starkid Rocks: Aww thanks! Grammar issues in stories seriously tick me off. Like not capitalizing something at the beginning of a sentence just doesn't look fancy, and to me it's just not...good. Haha! But thanks!**

**ChildofTitains310: Yeah. I tried making her more...FUNNY, but she ended up coming out all weird and hyper like some crazy five-year-old. LOL! **

**Candy123: O_O...How could I have not done that? I'M SO STUPID! Then I could've used that for blackmail and - *5 Hours Later* - JUST LIKE THAT! SHE SHOULD'VE TOTALLY DONE THAT! I MEAN, SHE HAD THE CAMERA AND EVERYTHING! And what really annoys me is that it would've been perfect for - *The Following Audio Has Been Removed Because It Exposes The Rest Of The Story. Thank You And Have A Nice Day***

** powerofthename: When I saw your review I was like, "OH NO! WHAT DID I DO _THIS _TIME!" But then I read it and I was like, "Well...okay." So yeah ^_^**

**Rain~*  
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